Hold’em Manager Review

Online poker action can be fast and furious. Luckily there is some excellent Holdem Manager software that can help you keep track of the game’s myriad statistics, meaning you can focus on playing.

There is a newer version of this software available - find out more about Hold'em Manager 2 in our independent review.

Introduction

Online poker has become extremely popular because it is fast and you can find an open seat at a table 24/7. There are no casino queues to worry about, and you can play in your pajamas from the comfort of your sofa.

However, while the game’s accessibility is a strong point, it also brings with it certain disadvantages. You play so quickly that it can be hard to remember the whirlwind of hands, tables and players that spin across your computer screen. And because your opponents can leave the table with a click of the mouse, they tend to rotate quickly, making it hard to identify playing styles and betting patterns.

Fortunately, there is some superb software out there that can do the hard work for you, gathering and collecting a mass of data as you play. This enables you to bring up detailed statistics with the click of a mouse and make much better poker decisions as a result. One of the best of the bunch is Hold’em Manager.

Installation

Installing Hold’em Manager is simple and the software auto-detects any poker clients you already have installed, configuring them to import hands directly into its database. Bear in mind that some sites are not supported for the auto-importation of hands, but the manual importation of hand histories is a breeze.

Hold’em Manager Start-Up Screen

You will also need to install PostgreSQL, which acts as the database to collect all your information, although this is packaged with the installation file.

In the event that you get stuck you can always check out the installation video or the online help section.

Ease of Installation: 4.5/5

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You can be up and running with the software in a matter of minutes. Click here to get your free 15-day trial version and see how quickly it can improve your game.
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Reporting and Statistical Analysis

Once you have Hold’em Manager running, it will gather a huge variety of data, not just on your own play, but also on that of your opponents. This is vitally important for post-game analysis – a vital part of poker playing that can dramatically improve your skill level.

And because the statistics are continually recorded and added to, the more poker you play, the more accurate your records become, and thus your analysis becomes deeper and more precise. This translates into more profitable plays and winning sessions.

Hold’em Manager comes with a dazzling array of customizable options that allow you to run searches on your data. Want to know how you played in a specific month? Hold’em Manager can show you with a few clicks of the mouse. Want to know how you played your blinds against a specific player on the third Sunday of March? Hold’em Manager can tell you that too.

There are also a wide variety of pre-generated reports that you can use to evaluate your play, allowing you to plug the most common leaks that are costing you money.

Hold’em Manager Reports

These combine to make Hold’em Manager an extremely versatile and powerful poker analysis tool. And because it also records the data of every player you encounter, you can examine their trends and tendencies too. This is especially important in online poker, where tells are very hard to pick up on, but trends are very easy to fall in to.

After you have used it for a few days it will feel like you were playing blindfolded without it.

Reporting and Statistical Analysis: 4/5

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Other Features

A picture is worth a thousand words and should you prefer looking at a graph, rather than cold hard numbers, there are a variety of charts that you can output, displaying your statistics in a format that makes it easy to spot patterns and tendencies.

Once again, the graph outputs are fully customizable, allowing you to filter the data you want to see. And the fact that you can easily see patterns emerge over time allows you to track how your experience is improving your play and increasing your win rate.

Hold’em Manager Graph Output

Another interesting feature is the Hand Replayer. With a simple double-click, you can run through the action of a hand, step-by-step. This visual replay, like a small movie, is perfect for going back and running through the way you played a hand to spot mistakes, or missed opportunities for value betting.

Hold’em Manager Hand Replayer

But Hold’em Manager is not just about post game analysis. While you play, it feeds you information in the form of an innovative Heads Up Display (HUD). This provides you with detailed statistics on your current session of play and, like all the features in this robust software package, can be customized to display exactly the stats that you want.

You can see at a glance how your opponents have been raising, from which position they do it, whether they are being aggressive or just limping in to pots or even if they repeatedly fold to three-bets – all very, very useful information to have when playing online.

As if that was not enough, you can even customize the HUD to display different stats for different game types. So when playing a six-seater game on Full Tilt you can have one HUD popup, but when playing a ten-seater on PokerStars you can have a different set of statistics appear.

The HUD display can be a little clunky if you are running multiple tables, but the statistics that can be brought up are absolutely amazing and will help you make much better decisions during play.

Hold’em Manager HUD Display

Clicking on the statistics provided by the HUD can bring up intensely detailed data on a specific opponent that reveal a great deal about their playing style and poker habits – information that you can then use to turn a profit against them.

Hold’em Manager Detailed HUD Popup Information

Other Features: 4.25/5

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See for yourself the wealth of features that Hold’em Manager can offer.
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Additional Software

Hold’em Manager has a variety of add-ons available to further enhance the product. Table Scanner enables you to search for games matching specific criteria, enabling you to find tables where you have an edge. Leak Buster will help you identify money wasting leaks in your poker game and offers advice and coaching on plugging them. Hold’em Vision Pro can take all of your raw statistics and present it in a unique graphical format, giving you tremendous insight in to your game. Sit’N’Go Wizard will help you study and improve your play in this popular tournament format. While Omaha Manager, can do everything that Hold’em Manager does, only for Omaha Hi/Lo and Omaha Hi.

This wealth of additional programs can further enhance your ability to analyze the game and to track your playing style. The site offers package deals for buying several pieces of software together and the add-ons are all available on a 15-day trial basis.

This program has the best software support of any poker software and allows you to build a truly powerful tool that will take your game to the next level.

Additional Software: 4/5

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Leak Buster will let you break those costly habits that keep draining your bankroll. Not only will this software find your leaks, but it comes with over 45 videos on how to correct your gameplay. This is software that can pay for itself!
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Supported Sites

Hold’em Manager supports the vast majority of poker sites and networks. Currently all of the following are supported:

Poker Stars

Full Tilt

Party Poker

Absolute Poker

Bodog

iPoker Network

Ultimate Bet

Everleaf

Micro Gaming Network

OnGame Network

Everest Poker

Betfair

888 Poker

Player's Only

Red Kings

NoiQ

Lucky Ace

Titan Poker

Entraction / B2B Network

Boss Media

Merge Network

Cake Poker

PKR Network

Unless you play on a very small gaming site, or a relatively unknown network, then you will find your favorite game supported by Hold’em Manager.

Supported Sites: 4/5

Overall

You will be hard pressed to find anything better than Hold’em Manager. With its powerful reports options, a wealth of additional software, ability to work with a vast array of poker sites, and some great features, purchasing this software really is a no-brainer for the online poker player.

And if that wasn’t enough, there are some excellent pricing options, package deals and even the ability to buy a less expensive version for use in low limits – so even those just dipping their toe into online poker can make use of this essential tool.

Simply put if you are thinking of taking poker seriously, should be considered as important as your mouse.

Overall Rating: 4/5

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